I thought a vote = a firm order = pay up promptly, and that the subsequent access by the wider community was supposed to be more of a top-up to boost the order numbers and perhaps help reduce the price further.

This protracted delay is very disappointing, especially after the hard work of Wim and the team.

If we don't come through with an order after all the discussions, arguments, haggling, etc., he's going to look like a right Charlie, isn't he... and the TFPN is going to lack credibility in the future if we ever ask anyone else to make us a pen.

Paypal allows up to 45 days before you can raise a dispute. I'll wait the full period and then request a refund. I truly hope this will NOT be necessary!

Wow.

We'll refund you now, if you want. If you read the blogs, you should be aware that we need people to pay in advance, until such time that we have enough money to order the pens, actually. Only then the pens are produced, and shipped.

It will also take at least 60 days for the manufacturing of these pens, as indicated in the blog posts. So, if you want out, contact me backchannel, and I'll make sure it is arranged. There is no need to raise a dispute at all - we did put the money in a separate account, especially for this pen project. Note that we are doing this for the benefit of our members here, the little profit that we would have made contributes to a year or so of server hosting and software licensing. The work done and being done for all this, is pure voluntary work.

Regards, Wim

P.S.: This is a group buy, unlike buying a standard pen from a pen retailer. We need everybody to contribute before the next step can be taken. 93% of pens (of totals per model) need to be sold in order to take this next step.

Do we know how much the pricing will be based on the number of units for the Etruria Azurite with Duotone Nib?
I have seen the pricing link but are we looking at the pricing based on 100 units or 200 units and what is the expected production date. Will this be a limted edition or will the manufacturers release this model in the market later?
Samm700

Do we know how much the pricing will be based on the number of units for the Etruria Azurite with Duotone Nib?I have seen the pricing link but are we looking at the pricing based on 100 units or 200 units and what is the expected production date. Will this be a limted edition or will the manufacturers release this model in the market later?Samm700

Sammy, if you look at the latest two blog columns (opening of FPN Store), you'll see the definitive price, which is based on 100+ Azurite Etrurias.

And yes, this will be a limited edition, as in only ever available through FPN. This is true for all the models in the store.

Am I the only one having difficulties with the store? When I pull featured products, I get a long white column down the center of the page with small pictures of the pens. When I click on a pen, I get a larger picture of that pen. There is no description, no "add to cart", no "go to check-out". Just small pictures of pens and nibs.

I would like to order two pens, (hey, who knows, could be the last two needed for the order to go through). One for me and one for my surgeon (three years, four surgeries. He actually admitted to me that I kept him up at night, trying to figure out what wasn't working and and what to do next.)

P.S.: This is a group buy, unlike buying a standard pen from a pen retailer. We need everybody to contribute before the next step can be taken. 93% of pens (of totals per model) need to be sold in order to take this next step.

Wim, Wow! That was a highly emotional response...

I do have to say that I didn't realize that we needed 93% of the pens paid for before any pens can be made.

If only 30% of the people who promised to buy the pens have paid for them up until today, we may not see any pens for 6 to 12 months, if we get up to 93% ever. I have to say that this is more than a little disappointing to me. I'm sure it's frustrating for you too.

Please hear me, I don't want out, OK? I'm just concerned about relying on orders that just don't seem to be coming that quickly.

Has anyone tried emailing all people who committed to buying pens to let them know that the store is open and that they should feel free to order their pens as promised? I know I had to check the forum to find out that the store was open. Maybe many of the people who promised to order don't check the forum regularly and they need an email to remind them to sign into the store to order their pens. It's just a suggestion.

I know that you have put endless hours into this project with no compensation. I respect that. I'm just making a suggestion to help us get to 93% faster, possibly.

P.S.: This is a group buy, unlike buying a standard pen from a pen retailer. We need everybody to contribute before the next step can be taken. 93% of pens (of totals per model) need to be sold in order to take this next step.

Wim, Wow! That was a highly emotional response...

?Where?

If this post is to be considered emotional in any way, it is only because personally I don't see the need for opening a case with PayPal (neither do any of the other admins). People only have to ask. A case with PayPal will freeze our account until such time it is resolved and then some - that is not going to be of any help to anybody. And the emotion in that case is one of worry.

I do have to say that I didn't realize that we needed 93% of the pens paid for before any pens can be made.

We did mention this before somewhere . We don't make a lot of profit on these pens, profit to be used to pay for hosting and software licensing for this site.

We did get an offer from Stipula, for an earlier partial payment so they can buy the materials to be used for these epens but we can't honestly run the risk of ordering lots of pens, pay for the materials, and next the money for the remainder of the pens doesn't materialize quickly enough.

If only 30% of the people who promised to buy the pens have paid for them up until today, we may not see any pens for 6 to 12 months, if we get up to 93% ever. I have to say that this is more than a little disappointing to me. I'm sure it's frustrating for you too.

Please hear me, I don't want out, OK? I'm just concerned about relying on orders that just don't seem to be coming that quickly.

Has anyone tried emailing all people who committed to buying pens to let them know that the store is open and that they should feel free to order their pens as promised? I know I had to check the forum to find out that the store was open. Maybe many of the people who promised to order don't check the forum regularly and they need an email to remind them to sign into the store to order their pens. It's just a suggestion.

I know that you have put endless hours into this project with no compensation. I respect that. I'm just making a suggestion to help us get to 93% faster, possibly.

Warm Regards,Simcha

Thank you, Simcha, much appreciated.

And yes, we are considering an action like this (which requires a lot of work, BTW). Unfortunately, personally I am currently up to my ears in work, as in, the job I do for a living, which means I have too little time right now. The other admin who could handle this, fortunately got a new (reliable) PC yesterday, and we hope to discuss strategy / tactics tomorrow.

We've started on a new entry to the column, and we have a few other things in mind as well, actually.

OK!! OK!! I only said about the Paypal dispute as a very last resort. Of course I would contact Wim first of all. What I was trying to say, while not expressing myself well, was that I would wait a given amount of time and if there was still no prospect of the whole project succeeding then I would ask for money back. I'm sorry if my post sounded threatening - I did not mean it to be at all! Apologies.

I wonder if maybe FPN could have struck a deal with a retailer like Bryant or one of the major league ones like FPH, Joon, Swisher, etc.

Sign In

Advertising Notice

Dearest Member or Visitor of the little Fountain Pen Nut house on the digital prairie,
Advert blocking software, such as Ad Block Plus, appears to be active. FPN relies a.o. on advertising for funding of running costs like hosting. Please be so kind to disable ad blocking for fountainpennetwork.com. If you prefer to see no adverts, support FPN by donating towards an Ads Free view, either by a monthly contribution, or a yearly contribution. Thank you very much in advance!
Warm regards, the FPN Admin Team